Canadian Shanty Group The Lazy Jacks Lead June 10th Song Circle!

The Lazy Jacks are crossing the Sound to lead the June 10th Shanty Sing. Be sure invite all your family and friends for a great night of listening to and singing songs of the sea with this entertaining, acapella shanty crew!

The Lazy Jacks is a group of acapella shantey singers from Vancouver, BC who have been together since 2009. They focus on traditional work songs of the sea and are the official group of the Vancouver Folk Song Society. They're unique in that the group is primarily made up of women vocalists. They perform under the direction of Captain Allison Campbell and should not be confused with another Canadian group also called the Lazy Jacks.

This is a free, family-friendly community event you won't want to miss!!

Songbook, Song Circles and Wooden Boat Festival

Ahoy Mateys,

Lots of great news to share with you today with the Wooden Boat Festival coming up next week with our new book of maritime lyrics available in the Chandlery at a special discount from September 7 thru Oct 4!

September Song Circles and Our Long-awaited Sing Shanties Songbook

A friendly reminder that we will not be having our monthly, first Thursday, Sing Shanties Song Circle in September, during the week of the Wooden Boat Festival. Instead, we encourage everyone to support and attend one or both of the two, free and fun song circles held annually during the WBF on both Friday and Saturday nights, see more information below.

We've all very much appreciated having multiple copies of several of Steve Lewis' notebooks to circulate amongst our song circle to sing from these past months, filled with many of his favorite shanties and maritime song lyrics, but now we will quite literally "be on the same page" - singing from one songbook with a collection of over 100 song lyrics.

The Sing Shanties Songbook Committee is very pleased and excited to announce that the songbook our committee has been working on this past year Sing Shanties & Songs About the Sea - Special Expanded Collection of Stephen Gottlieb Lewis will be available during this year's 36th Annual Wooden Boat Festival at the Northwest Maritime Center Chandlery and before, during intermission and after the two free song circles hosted by Northwest Seaport shantyman Wayne Palsson, Friday and Saturday nights at 8:00 p.m. in the Marina Room at Port Hudson. They are known to be well-attended musical gatherings.

Here are the links for more information and a printable handbill with a special 15% discount valid for a limited time only. After our October 4 Sing Shanties Song Circle with Tugboat Bromberg, the Sing Shanties songbook can be purchased for the regular retail price of $11.95 + tax. To receive the 15% discount through October 4, print out the handbill with coupon and present it to the cashiers either at the Chandlery or at the table set up at the Marina Room where the WBF Song Circles are hosted.

• Songbook cover photo and details
• Printable handbill with 15% off coupon

Note: (1) Thank you to Port Townsend's Friends of the Arts for funding our cultural maritime project to make this special collection of maritime song lyrics available to everyone during our song circles. (2) For those who are unable to or prefer not to buy a songbook, our Sing Shanties Songbook Committee will have songbooks to loan out during both WBF song circles and at our own monthly song circles. (3) A songbook has also been donated to each of our local, public and maritime libraries. The Jefferson County Historical Society and both Jefferson County high schools will each receive a copy for their library as well.

After Oct 4, songbooks can also be purchased online using PayPal. Songbooks are also available wholesale to retailers with a UBI number. We appreciate your financial support by buying one or more songbooks and participating at song circles to revive and keep alive the tradition of maritime music and the working songs of the sailor. 

Contest to Win a Songbook

Tell us, What Shall We Do with a Drunken Sailor? 

Submit your original, family-friendly response(s) to this popular song's question by emailing them to singshanties(at)gmail(dot)com, to be eligible to win a Sing Shanties songbook. You have as many chances to win as the number of entries you submit. Deadline is October 3. Type "Drunken Sailor" in the subject line with one or more entries in the body of your email along with your Name and Phone Number. Winner's name will be drawn and announced at our October 4 Song Circle.

For details click here.

Tune in to KPTZ 91.9FM

If you have your car, business or home radio tuned to our local community radio station KPTZ 91.9FM, tune in to Phil Andrus' show Tossed Salad at 12:30 p.m. on Friday, September 7 during the Wooden Boat Festival. Broadcast live from the Station, Phil will be talking with shanty singers Wayne Palsson, Helen Gilbert, Tugboat Bromberg, Mark Olson and Mike James about maritime music with an opportunity to sing some of their favorite shanties, and chat with Lee Erickson about the release of our songbook. You can also stream KPTZ (kptz.org) live from your computer.

Please share this post with other shanty enthusiasts far and wide.

Be sure to LIKE us on Facebook and join us on Twitter (right sidebar links) to stay connected. 

Keep on Singin' Shanties!

15% Discount on New Songbook for Shanty Enthusiasts thru 10/04/12

Ahoy, mateys! Get your 15% off coupon to purchase your very own copy of our newly published Sing Shanties & Songs About the Sea songbook, valid through October 4th at the Northwest Maritime Center and at our October 4th Sing Shanties Song Circle at the Northwest Maritime Center (6:00 p.m.). 

This handbill, with our special offer, is available to save as a file on your computer and print here at singshanties.com, and available to pick up at the Port Townsend's Wooden Boat Festival and the NWMC Chandlery in Port Townsend (8/26/12-10/04/12). Our songbook will be available to purchase online at the retail price of $11.95 with PayPal after October 4th (applicable tax, shipping and handling not included). If you see this announcement on our site, but live out of area, and wish to purchase a copy at the introductory discounted price thru 10/04/12, send us an email at "singshanties (at) gmail (dot) com" with "Limited Offer" in the subject line before October 4th.

Don't forget to enter our What Do We Do with a Drunken Sailor contest to win a FREE copy of our songbook!

February 2 Sea Shanty Song Circle and Sing-Along

Another fun night of singing maritime songs at the Northwest Maritime Center Cafe! Eighty men, women and children came out on a cold winter's night to warm themselves singing songs, sitting about the Song Circle lead by local musician Mike James. Videos courtesy of Luane Hanson, student at the Northwest School of Wooden Boatbuilding.

Helen Gilbert leading General Taylor

Rollin' Home Across the Sea... Rollin' Home to Whidbey Island lead by the Shift Sailors

John Kanaka-naka tu-lai-e (too-lie-ay) lead by the Shifty Sailors

Islanders we'll always be...

Sea Shanty Sing Along at NWMC Cafe by Lois, boatshop volunteer. This video clip is from our January 5 inaugural sea shanty sing-along, featuring the Shifty Sailors from Whidbey Island singing their final song of the evening. 

The rafters resounded!

Anchors were firmly aweigh at the inaugural gathering of the Port Townsend Sea Shanty Song Circle, when an estimated 90 shanty loving folk filled the Northwest Maritime Center Café to bursting. For two rousing hours the rafters resounded with the echo of sea songs past and present as the community shared their passion for maritime music.

The event was attended by many well-known local and regional singers including Matthew Moeller of the Whateverly Brothers, The Shifty Sailors from Whidbey Island, Tugboat Bromberg and Hank Cramer. The evening also brought to light many fantastic voices from the local community as the song circle format ensured that nearly everyone had the opportunity to sing, request a song or pass along to the next in the circle before Mark Iler brought the session to an end with a delightfully moving melody.

The success of the evening was made clear not just by the sheer number that attended, but also by the camaraderie felt within the room, the old bonds renewed and new friendships that were made. I am fairly sure that the majority of folk arrived with songs they knew and left with at least one they hadn’t heard before. 

Of course, none of this would have come to pass without the stalwart organization and time put in by Lee Erickson and the fearless Mike James who did a fantastic job of keeping the circle on track.  I’m sure I speak for everyone when I offer our heartiest thank you to them for making the evening, and every one hereafter, possible. 

by Helen Gilbert

If you were at the Sea Shanty Song Circle and Sing-Along on January 5, you will remember Helen and her rich voice, as she led the song General Taylor and sang a duet with a member of the Shifty Sailors. Thank you to Helen for her wonderful support and help spreading the word.